


Perseverance

by badly_knitted



Category: FAKE (Manga)
Genre: Community: slashthedrabble, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9182575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: Dee sometimes wonders why he doesn’t give up his pursuit of Ryo.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompt #429: Déjà Vu at slashthedrabble.
> 
> **Setting:** Throughout the manga, up to the end of Vol. 6.

It’s like déjà vu all over again. Pounce on Ryo, kiss Ryo, if he’s really lucky maybe even get in some groping before his partner gathers his wits enough to start protesting and trying to free himself. Then inevitably a door will burst open and a mini whirlwind, all kicking feet, punching fists, and bony, jabbing elbows, will launch itself at him, intent on inflicting the maximum amount of damage possible. Dee’s still nursing bruises from the last time. How’s he ever supposed to win Ryo over if they keep getting interrupted?

Sometimes Dee wonders why he doesn’t just give up and accept defeat; it would save him a hell of a lot of frustration and heartache, not to mention physical pain. He’s always been stubborn though; when he sets his heart on something, or someone, he won’t quit until he achieves his goal. 

Mother says perseverance is a good thing, that nothing worth having comes easily, but sometimes Dee wonders if his stubbornness is a double-edged sword. It’s got him where he is in life, he made detective far sooner than any of his peers, but its also led to him repeatedly, if metaphorically, banging his head against various kinds of brick wall until he either succeeds or meets utterly undeniable defeat. It scares him to think that this, with Ryo, might prove to be one of those occasions when he can’t get what he wants. He’s not at all sure he’d survive that, which would be okay because he very much doubts he’d want to.

Ryo, without even trying, has wormed his way so deeply into Dee’s heart that he’s taken up permanent residence there. Dee lives, breathes, hell, even exists for the infuriating, incredible man. Without him, Dee might as well cut out his own heart because it would be of no use to him.

“Are you okay?”

Dee looks up into Ryo’s concerned face. “I’ll live.”

“I’m sorry about Bikky, he can be a bit overprotective.”

“I noticed.” Dee smiles wryly. He doesn’t blame Ryo, not really. The guy’s struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, and for someone as repressed as Ryo’s forced himself to be over the years, shaking off all his hang-ups isn’t going to be easy.

The hell of it is, Dee knows for sure that if he lets up, backs off even an inch, Ryo will just fall back into his old habits of denial and self-deceit. He’ll spend the rest of his life alone because he can’t be straight and refuses to accept he’s gay. In his own way, he’s as stubborn as Dee. For Ryo’s sake as well as for his own, Dee knows he has to keep trying, no matter how many times he gets shot down by his partner or beaten up by the house ape.

All he has to keep him going is hope, and the memories of those brief moments when Ryo stops fighting and starts to respond. It’s not much, but it’s enough.

The End


End file.
